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` R. W. & D. DAVIS.

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No. 13,489. Patented Aug. 28, 1855.

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UNITED STATES PATENT. @FETCH R. TV. DAVIS AND D. DAVIS, OF YELLO\V SPRINGS, OHIO.

VISE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 13,489, dated August 28, 1855.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ROBERT IV. Davis and DANIEL Davis, of Yellow Springs, in the county of Greene and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Vise; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, Figure l being a longitudinal vertical section through the center of the vise, Fig. 2, a vertical section thereof in the plane x w, F ig. l, certain parts being removed to show other parts more distinctly; Fig. 3, a view of a part detached.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A stationary jaw A, is constructed in any convenient form, and arranged so as to be secured, in any ordinary manner, to whatever it is to be attached. The movable jaw B, is kept in a position parallel, or nearly so, with the stationary jaw, by means hereinafter'to be described. A horizontal beam C, of suitable dimensions, and of a form substantially as represented in the drawings, is made to fit accurately, and slide, in guiding mortises made through the jaws, near their upper ends. This beam constitutes the main connection between the jaws, and is the means by which we grip the articles to be confined, between them, in an exceedingly expeditious and effective manner, and so that we entirely dispense with a screw, now in general use for the purpose. On its under side, or at. the top of a longitudinal cavity therein, (as shown in Fig. 1,) is formed a ratch a, into which plays a pawl M, in such a manner as to hold the jaws from separating, but to allow them to be brought together. This pawl can fit in a recess in the stationary jaw A, to give it strength of support. In practice, we generally place it in a hollow seat el, (Fig. 1,) formed in a bloc-k or bearing, N, which is cast in a separate piece and secured in a proper recess in the back of the jaw. As the pawl is situated beneath its ratch, it is necessary to provide some co-ntrivance to keep it in Contact therewith. We make use of an arm P, which projects from a pin secured in the axis of the pawl, the weight thereof being` sufficient to counterbalance the claw of said pawl, substantially as shown. Outside of the movable jaw B, the beam C terminates in a shoulder 72 behind which a rotary cam E plays, in a notch made This cam has a gudgeon a sufficientdistance to keep .it firmly in place; while its projecting end terminates in a head provided with a sliding lever z', of the usual construction, for operating it. The cam has a spiral, or wedge, face g, extending around its entire periphery, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3; and the edge of the shoulder IL, against which it acts, is made to fit it. be greater than the distance between two adjacent teeth of the ratch a, properly about two or three times that distance.

Vhen an article is to be gripped, it is placed against the face of the stationary jaw, and the movable jaw is at once brought into contact with it, simply by pushing it up, since the pawl M permits the movment of the beam in that direction. The pawl M will hold the jaws close to the article, or within a distance less than thatl between two adjacent teeth of the ratch a. A partial turn of the cam E, then immediately wedges the j aws against the article with great force. If the jaws are not brought and held sulficiently close to the article, by the ratch and pawl, to prevent a complete revolution of the cam, the action thereof ceases; and the beam C, is immediately forced back to the position occupied before the cam was turned, by a spring e, (F ig. l), which always keeps the shoulder L in contact with the face g, and the cam close up to the jaw. Consequently, at every revolution of the cam, its action ceases, and fails to tighten the article sufficiently; so that the jaws must be brought closer together, ratch and pawl. By reversing the cam, the article is again set free; and by simply lifting the arm P, thereby throwing the pawl down away from the ratch, the jaws ycan be drawn apart. By withdrawing the arm and pin P, b, the pawl M will cease to operate; so that said pin performs the oflice of a key, to enable, or prevent, the use of the vise, at pleasure.

In addition to this improved mode of actuating the vise, we also add a device which acts automatically to throw the movable, away from the stationary, jaw, as soon as the pawl M is set free from its ratch; at the same time that it keeps said jaws parallel with each other. We accomplish these purposes by the following arrangement of cross levers G. H, of equal length, and turnfor its reception. f, let into the jaw The rise of the cam should' and held there by said ing on a common ulcrum p,passing through the center of each, thus making their four arms of equal lengths. These levers form, as it were, the diagonal of a rectangular parallelogram, whose angles are at the centers of the four pivots 7, s, t, u; and conse* quently, if the two' jaws of the vise are secured to the levers, respectively at the points 1', u, and s, t, they must remain parallel in every position. The application of this principle of the parallelogram to a vise, is not new; but our arrangement of the cross levers outside of the stationary jaw, in# stead of between the two jaws, whereby their weight will separate the jaws, we claim as our invention. To do this, the upper end of the lever Gr, is suspended by the pivot o, from ears c, which project from the block, or bearing, N; and the upper end of the lever H, is, in like manner, suspended Vby the pivot s, from the end of the beam C; the centers of the two pivots 7, s, being in the same horizontal line. The lower' end of the lever H, is provided with the pivot, or stud, u, which slides in a vertical slot 7c, ormed in a guide I, on the jaw A; the center of said stud being in the same perpendicular line as that of the pivot 1^.

To the lower end of the lever Gr, is attached by the pivot t, the end of a bar D, which reaches thence through a slot Z, in the jaw A, and terminates in a foot m, fitting into a recess, or mortise, n, sunk in the side ot' the movable jaw B. The length of said recess is equal to the entire extent of vertical movement given to the stud u, in open- 0' and closing the jaws; and it is situated 1n inbsuch a position that the upper end will be in the same horizontal line as the center of said stud when the jaws are closed, and

lower end, in a horizontal line with said center of the stud when the jaws are completely opened. The length of the bar D, should, of course, be just suiicient to keep the jaws parallel; and its foot m, should terminate in the arc of a circle, whose center is the pivot t, at the other end of the bar; so that the jaw will be kept at a uniform distance from said pivot notwithstanding the varying angle which the bar makes therewith. The bar curves downward somewhat, in order not to come in contact with the lever H.

It will at once be seen that, as the levers G, H, have but one stationary point of suspension, viz, the pivot 7', when the jaws of the vise are partially or entirely closed, said Alevers will have a tendency to move downward in the direction indicated by the motion of the center p, in the dotted line on; hence their own weight will cause the beam C, and bar D, to move in through the jaw A, and thus separate the jaw B therefrom.

V-e are aware that parallel' vises have been heretofore constructed with cross levers and ratchet movement, and do not claim merely such as our invention; but

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- Our improved arrangement, as herein set forth, of the sliding ratch-beam C, pawl M, and its detachable, weighted key P, and the cam E, all constructed and operating in the manner desired.

ROBERT W. DAVIS. DANIEL DAVIS.

Witnesses J. S. BROWN, GEO. W. ADAMS. 

